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Friday, April 15, 2016

Rant. Profanity Warning. Yada Yada.

I was going to type out an open letter to book pirates and the thieves who frequent them, but then it occurred to me that none of them really care. Oh, there may be a super small percentage who would feel guilty. An even smaller percentage may even stop reading books they didn't pay for. ROFL... lol... heh, yeah...

What else should any of us expect in a world where people expect free shit? And if the stuff isn't offered it for free, they're perfectly happy taking it.

They don't care if someone had to work to provide it for them.

They don't care if someone else has to do without to provide it for them.

They only care that they don't have to provide it for themselves with their dollars or their effort.

Watch First 48. You'll see dozens of people killing over their belief that they have every right to what you own - including your life.

Or watch the Presidential campaign.

Hell, watch the news.

So many people want free stuff. I wonder if any of them even consider where their 'free' stuff actually comes from. That commercial with the scooter sums it up pretty good. You can get a motorized scooter 'at no cost TO YOU'. Someone's paying for it. We're all paying for it, actually - including the person who's supposedly getting it 'for free'.

I've heard the rationalization that people only pirate books because they can't get the books in their own country. Wah. I've heard the rationalization that they read pirated books because they can't afford to buy books, so stealing them is the only way they'd be able to read new books. Double Wah.

Know what I did when I didn't have money to buy books? I read the same ones over and over. I went to the fuckin' library. I went to thrift stores and bought ten books for a dollar (4 for a dollar now, with inflation).

Know what you do when you can't get books in the country you live in? You work to change the shitass country you live in so that you do have access to books.

You don't steal.

Oh, that's right. Other cultures don't put the same value on personal property and individual rights as I do. (Almost said 'as we do', but then I remembered that America is on the toboggan ride to that fresh hell already. Bernie Sanders, anyone?)

What this means, for me, is that sooner or later, I'm going to have to stop. I can't afford to keep funneling my time, money, effort, sweat, etc., into their thieving machines. Free books for everyone = fewer authors willing to write quality books. Free medicine for everyone = fewer competent doctors. Free education = fewer quality teachers. You get the idea. No one wants to bust their asses and have nothing to show for it at the end of the day.

Or maybe you don't get the idea. Which is why all of this shit is not only occurring, but becoming more widespread every day.

2 comments:

Preachin' to the choir, sister! I gave up with take down notices. They only worked with the legitimate sites and legit sights normally do have pirated content. Totally love Karma when she infects pirate sites with computer viruses and credit card scammers.

It used to piss me off. Then I realized I wasn't really losing money anyway. Those people who downloaded my books? 99.9999% of them will never read the book they downloaded. It's all about numbers, not reading. That 0.0001% who did? Maybe they'll buy the next one. Or not.

I also used to get pissed when I'd find my autographed books from contests on eBay. Usually at outrageous prices. Then it made me laugh. Yeah, good luck with that eBay seller. Whatever.

Life's too short. If I ever stop selling enough books to put groceries on my table, I'll write for myself and my friends because I can't NOT write. *shrug*

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Who I Am

Writer of suspense, speculative fiction (aka dystopian, futuristic, post-apocalyptic... pick one, they all work), and urban fantasy for the adult market. Minor conspiracy theorist and major hermit, armchair Jeopardy! champion and fount of useless knowledge, pessimistic optimist and hopeful romantic, B.E. Sanderson spends her time reading, writing, gardening, and generally enjoying life with her husband and their cat.